English

Belarus' gold and foreign exchange reserves said to have decreased by $84.5 million in May

Belarus' gold and foreign exchange reserves (international reserves calculated in accordance with the International Monetary Fund’s standards) decreased by $84.5 million in May to $5,395.6 million as of June 1, reported the National Bank of Belarus (NBB).

The reserves shrank by $1,255 million in the first five months of 2014, according to the NBB.

The decrease in the reserves was due to the NBB’s and the government’s payments on internal and external foreign currency liabilities, as well as to a fall in gold prices in the international market of precious metals, the NBB press office explained.

The government’s 2014 Monetary Policy Guidelines project the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves to grow by between $200 million and $500 million this year.

Projected to increase by between $300 million and $700 million in 2013, the reserves reportedly decreased by $1.4 billion last year. //BelaPAN